I have so much to say on this subject, but just to start, I hate how every developer who only builds homes for the wealthy, and every politican they have in their pocket, jump and shout at each housing affordability study released. NOT to rally us all to the plight of those priced out of the market. Oh no, they use it as an excuse to whinge about land not being available to them for cheap. And why do they want cheap land? NOT so they can provide the 50,000 units of Affordable Housing needed*, but so they can continue to build big, flash houses to sell to the wealthy for a bigger profit margin than building affordable housing allows.
Hey, I'm not against builders making a profit (I worked for a builder and profits were really important for our growth and opportunities), but for these guys to use the AFFORDABLE HOUSING issue to try to get legislation through that allows the sell off of government land for cheap with no restrictions on what they build on that land, makes me fume. Along with cheap land, they howl for less gov't regulation, yet of course with the gov't avaiblable to pick up all infastruction costs from the urban sprawl they are creating. There is so little regulation here, new houses can still be built with single pane glass! Just a few years ago, builders didn't need to provide insulation!
The housing affordability issue is a big complex issue, made more so because NZ gov'ts of the past 16 years have ignored it - letting the "free market" be in charge of meeting its citizen housing needs. Didn't work. Don't try to tell me that "freeing up more land" and "reducing legislation" is the answer. It's only the answer to you fancy developers doing business as usual. Time to get creative and meet the needs of your fellow citizens with good, energy-efficient affordable houses.
* Rebuilding the Kiwi Dream: A proposal for affordable housing in New Zealand. The Salvation Army Social Policy and Parliamentary Unit.
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